More shrubs and grass
Hose pipe and tap
Gas fitting reinstatement
Crane details
No prizes for guessing who did what. We were obviously very engrossed in our work as there were only a couple of photos.
It must be spring as the foliage on the layout is growing at a great rate. Rubberised horsehair, proprietary mixes, long and short grass, were all applied with copious PVA. The 3D effect is gaining an appreciable and pleasing depth. Even an embryonic tree made from leftover stranded wire placed in the shrubbery enhanced the area to the extent next week might be tree-week, for someone.
A lost-wax brass tap with 'wire' hose were fixed to the water supply casing - a nice little detail. The 'lost' components for the gas holder were found, which enabled the structure to be fixed down finally.
The gasifier components were also assembled to assess their final fixing requirements. The main gas take-off pipe had been cut in two, to enable fitting into the building, but changes to the building meant that this was no longer required. Flanges and sleeves were discussed to make the pipe whole again.
The gas holder and gas fittings had all been painted in red oxide. Over the decades, these have acquired a nice patina, and a lot of dust. A wash of white spirit spruced them up a bit, but not too much. It was decided that the gasifier chamber itself will be repainted a darker reddy-brown to reflect the effects of the constant burning process.
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| The crane rotation mechanism. |
Stephen brought his 'ex'-military railcar which now has a proper roof with vents and gutters, a slightly different colour scheme, windows, glazing and WD identification panels. He'd also purchased a Model Power Plymouth diesel (eBay) similar to one seen running on an On30 layout at the Tolworth show that had impressed with its smooth running. The unit has an oversized bonnet which makes it ideal for NG conversion. However, although it ran 'reasonably' well, it's only 2-wheel drive, so experimentation is required to see what use it can be put to on WC!
